Complaint 2047315

Complaint Summary

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

Owner Narrative

While stopped in my vehicle waiting for another car to leave a parking space, my car shifted into neutral and then park on its own. I was able to get it started after a few tries. Then, two hours later, I was waiting at a traffic light and the car, again, shifted itself into neutral, then park, and then turned itself off. Both times, I was blocking traffic and unable to move, which could've caused a collision. Several minutes later, I was able to get it started again, but this same issue proceeded to happen two more times, both while driving slowly/stopped at traffic lights. Again, I was blocking traffic, unable to move and the car took up to 10 minutes to re-start. Thankfully, in both instances, I was slow/stopped, but given that the car shifts itself into neutral, this clearly poses a safety risk if it were to happen at even moderate speeds and would likely cause injury to myself or others. Please note a similar issue happened a year ago (where the car would shift into neutral on its own) and I took it to the dealership for inspection. They were unable to find any issues and sent me home. Now, a year later, it is happening again, and the dealership has investigated it and is claiming it is a starter issue. When checked a year ago, the dealership never mentioned any concerns with the starter. Notably, the dealership checked the starter 4 weeks ago and it was fine. I did not receive any warning lamp, message, etc. until the car shifted to neutral/turned off. At that point, I received an "engine cannot be started" error. (This vehicle was part of a safety recall relating to the starter. I received notice in September and immediately had it repaired at the dealership.)

Owner-submitted narrative on file with NHTSA. Complaint narratives are self-reported and have not been verified.